Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn), says a moratorium on any new construction -- including homes partially or completely destroyed by Sandy -- should be considered.

Such a move would require an act of the state Legislature after being requested in a home rule message from the City Council.

Some officials suggest a one-year building moratorium in the Zone A evacuation area might be needed to consider the borough's changing topography, along with the near-term needs and long-range goals of its residents.

State Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore), as well as prominent builder R. Randy Lee, suggest that if there is to be a moratorium, one lasting six months makes more sense, to cast a very real "sense of urgency" over any rebuilding effort, and so Staten Islanders can rightly get on with their lives.

Yet other electeds, like Borough President James Molinaro, say homeowners who have lost everything, or nearly everything, cannot be prevented from trying to put back the pieces -- that is, if they can get homeowner's and flood insurance.

Rather, they favor a building moratorium in Zone A communities only for new construction, anything that was not there pre-Sandy.

Many electeds say those generations-old one-story summer bungalows in Midland Beach and New Dorp Beach, later winterized for year-round living and grandfathered in when more stringent building codes took hold, shouldn't be duplicated.

But should new regulations demand that new structures be made of brick? Built on steel or concrete stilts? Without basements? With electrical systems on the second floor? With so-called breakaway foundations? All should be on the table for discussion, most agree.

Then again, should new homes even be permitted where they have been for decades, given ongoing problems with flooding? Some privately say perhaps not -- given not only Sandy but Hurricane Irene last year and the violent winter storms of 2010.

But Molinaro looks at it differently: "This is the first time this has happened here in 100 years. People have lived in these places for 60 or 70 years, and their grandmothers before them. And nothing ever happened. People talk about climate change, but climate change is slow."

Still other electeds, like Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-East Shore), say it is "too early" to think about the future, given that many residents have not yet transitioned out of shelters, gotten the services they need and been stabilized.

This as many Staten Islanders who went through the turmoil of Sandy -- losing loved ones, their homes, their possessions -- are suffering from what several Island electeds privately are characterizing as Post Traumatic Stress.

"Many people we are talking to are suffering from severe mental strain," said one elected official. "They are very confused. They are having trouble making basic decisions."

Another elected cited the lack of consensus even within families: "You have kids who are afraid of their own homes now. They don't want to go back because their parents kept them there during the storm."

There is a lack of consensus among neighbors, too.

"On a single block, I had a woman say to me, 'You need to condemn this whole area,'" recalled state Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island). "Then her neighbor came up to me and said, 'Was she telling you to condemn us? Don't listen to her. I want to stay.' "

And if a voluntary condemnation program were developed, as they have been in other storm-ravaged areas in the nation, to permit property owners to sell off their land, not only would the compensation have to be adequate, but who ponies up? The city? The state? The feds? All three?

And what if some homeowners on a block want to sell out to the government but others, as Lanza found, want to stay, resulting in what some are referring to as a "jack-o-lantern landscape"?

Interestingly, the borough's elected officials seem to be in agreement on one point, a general disdain for Mayor Bloomberg's "rapid recovery" initiative designed to get storm victims back into their houses pronto.

Said Oddo: "I can't even speak to it. I'm not even sure how it works. How does it fit in? We need to look longer term, big picture."

"They have given us no details," added Ms. Malliotakis. "How does it work? When I asked whether our local contractors and electricians and plumbers and hardware stores could be used, the mayor brushed me off. That was very upsetting."

Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) has been outspoken on the point that in the rush to repair, contaminants, such as mold, might develop, making new dwellings ultimately unsafe to live in.

To the larger issue of whether, how and when to rebuild, Oddo framed the dilemma this way: "All of the electeds have been talking about all of this since Day 1. It's the 'what now?' question.

"We know we need to rethink all of these issues, of placing housing and public amenities along the shore. We have to rethink our world. Behind closed doors, we have had some very candid conversations. I think we have to put all options on the table. But we can't reflexively rebuild Staten Island as it was pre-Sandy. It is not the right approach."

But Molinaro said if Islanders whose homes have not been red-tagged for tear down "want to rebuild, they should have the right to rebuild. You can't stop people. That is their right; that is the law. That is their choice; they don't need anyone's permission. I've had people say to me, 'I'm out of here.' I've had others say, 'I'm rebuilding; put the power back on.' The final choice belongs to one person -- the homeowner."

Grimm, meanwhile, is taking the middle ground: "I'm not sure there should be a moratorium, but there definitely needs to be a discussion about what we can safely build so close to the water. We need to look at all options, a program for buyouts, the condemnation process, FEMA mitigation programs, upgrading houses to meet hurricane standards.

"It is very complicated and requires great coordination. We need to find some common ground and have common sense.

"There has been erosion to the beach. There is no protection for people living on those first few blocks. It is dangerous," he went on. "Does it become incumbent upon government, for safety reasons, to say, this area can no longer be zoned for bungalows, that the homes have to be elevated?

"We need to be prudent. We lost 24 people. We can never, ever permit lives to be endangered like that again. You have some people talking about building a sea wall. But that is not a practical option."

Rather, Grimm, Molinaro, Lanza, Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island) and others say the Blue Belt storm water management system, based on topographic grades, retaining ponds and natural drainage corridors, begun several years ago then halted due in part to city agency disputes, needs to move forward.

But the talk always comes back to building.

Said long-time builder Richie Bove: "Who is the government to tell me I can't build a house in South Beach? I don't need a nanny. I don't need anyone to worry about my safety. I want to live on the beach, I will roll the dice."

"People have rights," said builder Lee, "but on the other hand, how many times do you have to pay for the damage? We've had two of these so-called hundred-year storms in the past two years."

Agreed Ms. Savino: "If we simply clean up and rebuild as before, we will lose a tremendous opportunity to plan for a coastal community. We can't control the weather, but we can try to learn from these disasters. Remember, flood insurance is underwritten by the government. It is paid by the taxpayers. So whether we live there or not, we are all in this together."

Said Oddo: "As tragic as all of this is, this is an opportunity for us to do it right. Why would we ask for the same tragedy over again?"